Perspective Shifts

I know I posted before about the film Ordinary Decent Criminal, but I cannot remember if I posted a follow-up after doing my research for one of my papers. I think I mentioned that Gerard Stembridge spoke in my CITIC course because he directed the recent Abbey Theatre production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. As he was talking about his career thus far, he mentioned writing the screeplay for the aforementioned film and that he distanced himself from the project; he did not feel as successful about that writing-to-film process as with Nora.

In my research on gangsterism in Ireland, particularly in Dublin, I was able to get the production publications from Druid Theatre (Thanks Carmel!). The program for their 1995 production of Tom Murphy's The Blue Macushla included a piece written by Veronica Guerin, a journalist with Sunday Independent who was later murdered for her coverage of gang activity in Ireland. (Her story has been made into two films, one of them in 2003 starring Cate Blanchett. Though not always 100% accurate, there is an entry on Wikipedia.)

The reason I bring this up (and I apologise if I already posted this, but I am too tired to search through my previous posts to see if I posted this) is that the characters in Ordinary Decent Criminal are based on some of the same individuals responsible for Veronica Guerin's death. The film is quite light-hearted and the crimes committed do not involve drugs, racketeering, or prostitution. Without going too far into idle speculation, I could imagine the writer being unhappy with the final product if it became too funny and obscured other elements in the script.

I have had multiple paradigm shifts since moving to Dublin and working in this program; it's empowering and humbling as a person, but vital as a burgeoning teacher and academic, to remember how quickly (and often) my perspective deserves reevaluation.